WRC

Rally Japan 2026 - Elfyn Evans and Toyota winners

Welshman Elfyn Evans (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) won Rally Japan 2026, the seventh round of the FIA ​​World Rally Championship (WRC), which ended today.

The Welshman led from Friday morning’s second stage and never surrendered control, eventually beating defending event winner Sébastien Ogier by 12.8sec after 20 demanding asphalt stages in Aichi and Gifu.

Sami Pajari completed the podium, 51.4sec from the lead, with home hero Takamoto Katsuta fourth as Toyota locked out the top four places on home soil.

Evans’ win was his second of the season and also marked his 50th career WRC podium. It moves him to 151 points in the drivers’ championship, 20 clear of Katsuta after seven of the season’s 14 rounds.

“What a great weekend,” said Evans. “I have to say a huge thanks to the team, amazing car again on Tarmac, and thank you to Morizo-san for all your support. Hopefully, this win is a token of appreciation.

“There’s a long way to go in the championship yet. It’s too early to really talk about [the title], but we have to just enjoy this win.”

Evans built the foundation for victory on Friday morning, when a decisive run through Isegami’s Tunnel moved him into the lead. From there, he managed changing grip, rising temperatures and sustained pressure from his team-mates across the final asphalt rally of the season.

Oliver Solberg had been Evans’ closest challenger on Saturday morning, reducing the gap to 10.6sec before crashing out of the victory fight on the afternoon’s opening Mt. Kasagi stage.

That promoted Ogier to second and left Evans to control the gap to the nine-time world champion. Ogier continued to push through Sunday, trimming the margin to 13.3sec ahead of the rally-ending Wolf Power Stage, but Evans had enough in hand to secure a record third FORUM8 Rally Japan win.

Ogier admitted the rally had not delivered the fight he wanted, his challenge effectively shaped by time lost in Friday’s first pass of Isegami’s Tunnel.

“I know the reason, but that’s the way it is,” Ogier said. “Didn’t manage it this weekend. Not a bad rally either. The gap to Elfyn was made in one stage with the road position. The rest was, even with the struggle, not far away.”

Pajari rounded out the podium after a strong second half of the rally. The Finn claimed several stage wins across Saturday and Sunday and secured his fifth podium from seven WRC starts this season.

“The feeling is good and it is nice to get back on the podium,” Pajari said. “It was shame we lost that one in Portugal as it would have been a good streak. It is a big shame that it is the last rally for these [Rally1] cars on Tarmac.”

Evans won five of the twenty special stages, showing consistency, which has once again proven to be a key point of success in rallying. On the winding mountain roads of Japan, the Elfyn Evans - Martin Scott crew achieved an average speed of 92.2 km/h.

The rally was led by Oliver Solberg (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1), then Evans took the lead on the second special stage and selfishly kept it until the end of the competition. Solberg showed great potential, "breathing on Evans' neck", but unfortunately only until the tenth special stage, where he made a mistake and damaged his car. As a consolation, Solberg was the fastest competitor in the Super Sunday competition, as well as in the final Power Stage special stage. The Swede scored 10 points, but in the end had to settle for 21st place, almost 50 minutes behind Evans.

However, even after Solberg's crash, Evans did not have an easy job until the end. On the final day of the competition, the Welshman entered with a 17.8-second lead over Sebastien Ogier (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1). In the end, Evans celebrated with a 12.8-second lead over Ogier, and the third place of Sami Pajari (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) speaks of Toyota's top potential.

The fastest competitor of the Hyundai factory team was Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai i20 N Rally1), who recorded 4th place, 38.8 seconds ahead of his teammate Thierry Neuville (Hyundai i20 N Rally1). Next were Hayden Paddon (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) and Jon Armstrong (Ford Puma Rally1).

The fastest competitor in the WRC2 competition was Nikolay Gryazin in a Rally 2 specification car - the Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale.

Rally Japan 2026 - Objective:

1. Evans/Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 3:17:08.0

2. Ogier/Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +12.8

3. Pajari/Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +51.4

4. Katsuta/Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:03.5

5. Fourmaux/Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +2:34.8

6. Neuville/Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +3:13.6

7. Paddon/Kennard Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +4:44.8

8. Armstrong/Byrne Ford Puma Rally1 +5:45.2

9. Gryazin N. - Aleksandrov K. Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale +9:21.3

10. McErlean Josh - Treacy Eoin Ford Puma Rally1 +9:23.0

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